How do you properly thank someone who built a house, then trusted you to live there?
That’s the question I’ve been struggling with for the better part of a year. Although Kevin Shaffer officially sold Colorado Preps to Mile High Sports in the spring of 2022, I have always considered this his house.
It’s one of many things we’ve playfully disagreed on over the years.
But we agree on a lot more. We agree that high school sports deserve the best coverage it can get. We believe that small schools are very important in this landscape.
We believe that to properly do this job, one has to be dedicated. Not dedicated in words, but dedicated in action.
To truly work in preps, you have to be built for it.
In that way, Kevin and I are cut from the same cloth. When I first got into the preps, I eventually got the follow on Twitter from @ColoradoPreps. It didn’t take long to figure out that this was a solid source for high school sports information, especially football scores. Part of our coverage at CHSAANow.com on a weekly basis was providing a link to Kevin’s Scoreboard Show so that we could get a proper read of the football picture state-wide.
I can’t remember the first time I actually met Kevin. But I don’t ever recall a moment where we didn’t get along.
I was happy to see him show up to a random Peyton vs. Manitou Springs boys basketball to film and put out highlights of some small school programs. “Everyone goes to the big guys,” he always told me.
Small schools mattered then and they still matter today. Take a walk through any small town on the Eastern Plains of Colorado and they likely know Kevin’s voice and appreciate his efforts.
Kevin covered a lot of ground. And I think he noticed when I was doing the same. He knows more than most of my family about the Friday nights I’ve spent on the road going to places like La Junta, Kremmling, Buena Vista or Basalt.
And there was not a coach in any of those towns that didn’t know Kevin and didn’t love talking to him on a Friday night. Mainly that’s because it meant they had won a big game.
Coaches will still get to talk on the Friday Night Scoreboard Show this season, but they won’t be talking to Kevin. He took an opportunity to help coordinate streaming broadcasts between the NFHS Network and CHSAA.
Kevin’s role will be vital in shining a spotlight on countless athletes across Colorado. That’s who he is and one of the (many) areas where he excels.
For the Scoreboard Show, fans will hear a familiar Preps voice in Marty Cesario. I’m looking forward to Marty bringing his passion and his own dynamic to an established product.
But I’ll have the time to praise Marty for weeks (and hopefully years) to come.
The primary purpose of this column is to send very deserving praise to Kevin Shaffer.
Thank you, Kevin.
You built the foundation and the walls of the best platform when it comes to covering high school sports all across Colorado. You’ve said for years now that Colorado Preps is no longer yours.
One of the things we disagree on is that it will always be yours. I will always operate with the intent of maintaining a standard to the student-athletes of Colorado and to you.
In every publication that comes out of Mile High Sports (whether its Mile High Sports Magazine, the Colorado Preps All-State Magazine or the Colorado Preps Football Preview), Kevin will always be listed as the Colorado Preps Founder on the staff bar.
Your impact has been felt across Colorado for decades. For that, your name will always be tied to the monumental task of providing top-notch coverage of preps in Colorado.
